Homemade Record Cleaning Machine

macaltec

macaltec

Metal Master
I got my record cleaner going this evening. It is functional but not finished cosmetically. I used some 1/2" copper tube as the suction arm that couples to a 1/2" rubber hose that couples to an adapter for my 1 gallon shop vac to plug into and well, it doesn't suck (gotta sort this one out some more). Leaves the record too wet. A small brush type attatchment on the vac hose does a much better job. The motor assy is just that, mounted to the bottom of a board and adapted from the shaft on one end and holding a turntable spindle on the other. Variable speed, cause that's what I had available. All mounted in a desecrated (not my doing) AR5 speaker cabinet. I guess I had unrealistic expectations of a static free experience with freshly cleaned records. I was sure that I was doing something wrong as I still have some snaps, crackles and pops (little bastards) in my records that had been cleaned. They are much more listenable now than before though. Maybe some pics tomorrow.

*Edit* My new avatar is of the first record I cleaned. Previously unlistenable.
 
Sounds like you're not getting a good seal between the vac arm and the record surface. Look at THIS and see if you get any ideas for improving the seal. Restricting the hose to 1/2" should be giving you some serious velocity of air, cutting down from the shop vac tube size. Try having a bigger hose closer to your arm to get a greater volume of air moving, that may help too.

Oh yeah, almost forgot:
:worthless
 
Mac, if you're not getting good results on at least a few albums, try scrubbing them with record solution before the vac. I use a natural-bristle paint brush, (about a 2 or 3 inch wide, standard wood handle, super cheap) and scrub following the curve of the grooves around the record. Wet it with plain distilled water and let it drain a little before spraying on the solution and scrubbing, washes off any loose stuff.

A clean, absorbent work area is required for the scrubbing stage. I have some albums that are dead quiet from hand scrubbing then using my little vac attachment. You'll get there! :thmbsp:

And remember: NOT every album will clean to silence. And you can't tell by looking at them - I have a Beatles album with an obvious, visible scratch that snakes all over it, looks like a drunk snail was dragging a pickaxe. Plays without a single pop or tick! :scratch2:
 
Thanks for the encouragement Todd. I was just being over critical of my results. The suction arm will either work or I'll just continue to use the brush attatchment by hand. All I really wan is to get my records clean and that seems to be happening. I'll try to get some pics tonight.
 
Here are some pics. Like I said, the cosmetics are not done. The black wand is what I am using until I can get the suction arm dialed in. The last is of the motor controls.
 

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Who cares about cosmetics, if it works, it works.

Jimmy's cleaner looks nice, but there is no way in hell I'd put that kind of time into it - VPI can have my money, I'll keep my time.

Cheers,
Russ
 
Nice job, Jason! I like the speaker cab as a base, very appropriate.

Looking at the arm set-up, I can't see any problem, unless the arm is too high at the pivot. That baby should be leaving the records DRY. I know you're a detail-oriented guy, have you checked the height at all points along the arm back to the pivot? That's really the only thing I can see that would keep the arm from working well - too big of an air gap between arm and record. :scratch2:
 
ozmoid said:
Nice job, Jason! I like the speaker cab as a base, very appropriate.

Looking at the arm set-up, I can't see any problem, unless the arm is too high at the pivot. That baby should be leaving the records DRY. I know you're a detail-oriented guy, have you checked the height at all points along the arm back to the pivot? That's really the only thing I can see that would keep the arm from working well - too big of an air gap between arm and record. :scratch2:
Click to expand...

I'm sure that is not it. I can adjust it as needed. Just not enough suction. It can barely hold a piece of paper. I need to taper it to increase the air velocity at the end of the wand. Like Russ said, it's working for now. The purpose is being served.
 
macaltec said:
I'm sure that is not it. I can adjust it as needed. Just not enough suction. It can barely hold a piece of paper. I need to taper it to increase the air velocity at the end of the wand. Like Russ said, it's working for now. The purpose is being served.
Click to expand...
Sounds like a leak - need a plumber? :naughty: I'll be passing by in a few weeks...
 
ozmoid said:
Sounds like a leak - need a plumber? :naughty: I'll be passing by in a few weeks...
Click to expand...

Yup, I need a plumber, crappers plugged :D . Looks like you'll have to stop and help a fella out. I'll send along directions. Bring some CD's and vinyl too.
 
macaltec said:
Yup, I need a plumber, crappers plugged :D . Looks like you'll have to stop and help a fella out. I'll send along directions. Bring some CD's and vinyl too.
Click to expand...
...and a shovel and a change of clothes... :no:

:lmao:
 
OK first off there is no force in the universe called Vacuum. Vacuum is a absence of pressure. Vacuum is an absence of Matter. No Matter no pressure.

With that little fact in mind. A vacuum cleaner does not SUCK up anything. What it does is to create a low pressure area (an area with reduced or no Matter) which when allowed aphmosperic pressure trys to fill by pushing into the low pressure area The resulting high velocity air flow creates a venture effect that pushes particles of Matter with it. In our case we want it to push the water/cleaning solution into the low pressure area. Which is actually a flow of air. So the goal of a vacuum is to out pace the apmosheric pressure.
.

SO YOU DO NOT WANT A TIGHT SEAL if you have a tight seal no atmospheric pressure can push into your vacuum.

What you most likely need is a small bleed hole or to have the slot in your pickup extend up past the edge of the record or to have a deeper pile velvet or something so air can pass.

but then I just drive a dump truck so what do I know.

MY RCM http://s65.photobucket.com/albums/h217/UJ78/RCM/

which will suck a record dry in a single pass. using a small 600 watt vacuum tubrine.
 
Thank you Dr Nye.

A vacuum for our intents and purposes is a negative pressure related to our atmosphere (ie living room). The way we achieve this is through a pump of some sort, and pulling out air into a separate container, ie sucking (see: your posts ;) ) Do we really need to get into Casimir and Lamb effects?

You sir ARE correct, but if I can't convince these guys that 'RMS Watts' is a bogus term - how do you expect to start explaining hardcore physics? (You can measure RMS Amperes and RMS Volts, but, mathematically speaking, when you multiply them together, to have power, it is no longer an RMS measurement. The correct term is continuous Watts, not RMS Watts.)

Great post, a thinking man!

Cheers,
Russ
 
RuSsMaN said:
Thank you Dr Nye.

A vacuum for our intents and purposes is a negative pressure related to our atmosphere (ie living room). The way we achieve this is through a pump of some sort, and pulling out air into a separate container, ie sucking (see: your posts ;) ) Do we really need to get into Casimir and Lamb effects?

You sir ARE correct, but if I can't convince these guys that 'RMS Watts' is a bogus term - how do you expect to start explaining hardcore physics? (You can measure RMS Amperes and RMS Volts, but, mathematically speaking, when you multiply them together, to have power, it is no longer an RMS measurement. The correct term is continuous Watts, not RMS Watts.)

Great post, a thinking man!

Cheers,
Russ
Click to expand...


A comment while I'm on a roll

You can not pull air you can only push it. An Airplane propeler pushes the air behind it to create trust it does not pull itself into the air in front of itself. The same applies to the blades in a turbine (which is what almost all vacuums (using tthe word as a noun) use to create the low presure area.

But I'll stop now since I'm just a Dump truck driver and don't want to confuse anyone any more
 
Hate to disagree with the experts but a 1/2" pipe with a small slot just can't move enough air to generate much of a vaccuum. Not only is the size a limitation in terms of volume of air, the disruption caused by friction effects is proportionally larger relative to airflow and has large effects on air velocity. The bleed hole is only meant as a way to prevent overheating the turbine by choking it and doesn't contribute to increased suction at the record surface.

That's why larger shopvacs come with 2 1/2" hose. Suction is greater when higher volumes of air are moved
 
Great stuff guys. A little over the top technically but I remember physics class in high school. Thats the class I slept through first thing everyday :D . I get where you are all pointing me though. Thanks, I'll try a bigger slotand a tapered pickup. Worse thing that could happen is I keep going like I am and get all my records clean that way.
 
ozmoid said:
Restricting the hose to 1/2" should be giving you some serious velocity of air, cutting down from the shop vac tube size. Try having a bigger hose closer to your arm to get a greater volume of air moving, that may help too.
Click to expand...

Using even a small shop vac, you ought to be able to get enough suction to lift the record off the TT. :thmbsp:
 
ozmoid said:
Using even a small shop vac, you ought to be able to get enough suction to lift the record off the TT. :thmbsp:
Click to expand...

Damn it man, it's not suction, is it? I'm confused. Do I need this thing to suck or not?
 
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